Update based on data recorded 1110 GMT...check http://www.teamellen.com for the latest data updated hourly
B&Q IS FIRMLY IN THE STORM, GALE-FORECORCE CONDITIONS are making Christmas Day, a day of survival for Ellen. Already experiencing 35-40 knots of winds from the north/north-west and very rough seas, wind expected to increase up to 45 knots and gusting 50 knots [Force 10] at times as the storm gets closer to B&Q. Here is what Ellen had to say about it....
FROM ELLEN MACARTHUR CHRISTMAS DAY MORNING 1000GMT:
Right now, we are in the centre of a storm - the only white Christmas about this Christmas, is the breaking waves all around us... The conditions are horrendous, the waves are huge and the boat is getting physically thrown around.
I've had virtually no sleep, I've been in my oilskins now for 12 hours and I'm just hoping this front is going to go over without doing too much damage to the boat or to me.
Right now, we're in the front of a storm, so you can say we're pretty much in the middle of the storm. It is moving across us but it's actually going to slow in front of us and we'll end up sailing back into that same storm even if we fall out of the back of it today. I'm sailing in and out of a pretty angry front.
It doesn't feel like a different day, to be honest, I've not been to find my Christmas bag at the back of the boat - it is just too rough. I'm just trying to look after the boat, look after myself, just keep everything turning until things get a little bit better at the end of this storm. I'm hanging in there, I'm very tired, pretty cold now, spending a lot of time outside trimming the sails. It's been a pretty tiring Christmas so far but just looking forward to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in a few days.
There's a lot of jolting and earlier this morning we did get taken by this one wave that literally just picked us up and threw us... The boat spun to starboard, she landed almost dead downwind and then span 40-50 degrees. Then everything went quiet as the wave broke over the back of the boat and then as that wave broke on the back it slewed the boat round and we ended up pointing back up the wave, and then we had another wave break right over the front of the boat before we could carry on. That's when we were doing 20-21 knot averages so you can imagine what the inside of the boat was like... It's just really testing.
You've kind of just got to hang in there, really. We're in it now, it's hammering us but we've just got to try and deal with it as best we can. The boat is just unbelievable - she has taken so much hammering. We've got to stay fast in this or we will fall out of the back of this and things could go horribly wrong...
Click here for further information on Sailing Speed Records http://www.sailspeedrecords.com and here for information on Ellen's campaign http://www.teamellen.com
For further information, please contact Offshore Challenges:
Lou Newlands or Lucy Harwood
T: +44 (0)870 063 0210
E: lou@offshorechallenges.com or lucy@offshorechallenges.com
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B&Q has over 350 stores in the UK, China and Taiwan and employs about 40,000 people. With its sister DIY company Castorama which has stores in France, Italy and Poland, B&Q is the biggest DIY retailer in Europe and third biggest in the world.
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